DOVER — Defendant Christina Thomas swore under oath Thursday she did not withhold food from the child she has been accused of starving intentionally for years in this case.

“Whether you want to, or anyone else wants to, believe that, I was doing everything I could for (the boy),” she said.

After more than four hours on the stand, under questioning from both her defense attorney, Steven Keable, and Deputy Strafford County Attorney Alysia Cassotis, Thomas stepped down teary-eyed, having just said she cared deeply for the victim and his biological mother.

Thursday marked the 11th day of Thomas' trial in Strafford County Superior Court in Dover. Thomas, 34, is charged with first-degree assault for allegedly starving the son of her friend from 2006 to 2010 in her New Durham home.

The boy weighed approximately 23 pounds when he was taken from the Thomas' residence and placed into foster care a few months before his seventh birthday.

For two hours Keable asked Thomas about her history and experiences with the boy, and at one point asked if the portrait painted by the state's witnesses in the last three weeks accurately portrayed her character. She said she is “not that person.”

Under a line of intense questioning from Cassotis, Thomas also said she “didn't care” what anyone thought of her or her lifestyle.

“I don't care what they think,” she said, referring to officials and representatives from the state. “Really, I'm who I am.”

She also said she never “enslaved” the boy's mother and she never used physical force on her children or the victim.

The state was unable to call the defendant's 10-year-old son to the stand after Thomas informed the court he was out of state, in Jamaica Plain, Mass., for the day. The state said because the witness was unavailable, they would request the use of previous statements made by the boy in an interview to the state Division of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF). Judge John M. Lewis accepted the motion, informing Thomas her decision to have the child out of state the day he may have testified could have resulted in additional charges against her.

“There might even be criminal grounds here,” he said.

A guardian ad litem for the family informed the court he believed even if the 10-year-old boy were present, he was too emotionally unstable to take the stand.

Thomas' 14-year-old son became argumentative on the stand as well. Cassotis asked him if it “sucks” being called to testify to which he replied, “The only thing that sucks is having to look at you.”

In the 10-year-old's interview, which was read aloud by Cassotis, it was revealed Thomas' child, at age 6, told state investigators his mother would sometimes use a paddle and a spatula to spank some of her children as well as the victim. Thomas refuted the claims, stating she is “not that close” with that particular son. She testified she never used corporal punishment on her children in her opinion, though she said she spanked them from time to time with her hand.

Thomas testified also the boy's mother placed the victim in this case, now 9 years old, in a snow bank as punishment and called him racial slurs. It has been alleged that Thomas' mother, Peg Starr of New Durham, placed the boy in a snow bank, and she faces trial this spring on a charge of second-degree assault on the boy.

Thomas noted in her testimony she never used epithets against the boy, though she admitted on one occasion she became angry and swore at him for eating chicken feces in the yard of her home. That's when a chain link kennel was placed outside, she said.

At one point, Cassotis asked Thomas to remove her chewing gum when she testified, as some jurors complained it was hard to hear her.

Cassotis also asked Thomas about an event earlier in the day, when an employee in the Strafford County attorney's office reported she overheard the defendant on the phone yelling at Kevin Tulley, a man listed as a possible witness in the case. Tulley is a man Thomas described as her verbally abusive ex-boyfriend, who still lives in the home with her husband, who is also the father of two of her six children.

Cassotis informed Thomas it is against the law for her to discuss the case with anyone during the trial. Thomas said she did tell Tulley to return to the court to testify, or there would be consequences. She refuted Cassotis' colleague's claims that she told her ex-boyfriend in the court cafeteria over the phone she would not allow him to see his children ever again if he didn't appear.

It was also brought to the court's attention that another county attorney employee overheard Thomas on Wednesday informing her friend, Holly Kibuchi, in a court bathroom how to testify.

Thomas and her friend both denied they were discussing the case at that time. Under cross-examination, Cassotis asked Kibuchi if she understood what perjury means and if she knew she shouldn't be talking to a defendant in a case. Kibuchi told Keable under questioning she never saw Thomas punish the boy.

Thursday was an emotional day for the Thomas family as the defendant's 14-year-old son began to cry when Cassotis approached the stand to cross-examine him. Judge John M. Lewis called for a recess and Thomas walked over to her child and threw her arms around him — they held each other and cried together.

Thomas explained her frustrations with the victim in the case, noting how concerned she was when he would eat fecal matter left behind by animals and would vomit or ruminate several times a day. She said she wanted him to get better and she was concerned, even as Cassotis asked her why she reportedly waited nearly two years to return the child to the doctor's office for an emergency follow-up appointment. Thomas said she was flying back and forth between Colorado and New Durham and it was not possible then.

After Cassotis asked Thomas if she understood she had “a lot to lose,” including her children and her freedom, Thomas began to tear up.

“This is so I can continue to raise my kids,” she said.

After Cassotis' cross-examination, Keable asked Thomas if she loved the victim as one of her own children. She said she did.

“And did you make the best judgments you could as issues arose?” Keable asked.

“I tried,” Thomas said softly, through tears.

The defense's list of witnesses will likely conclude today, with the state and defense having opportunities to call rebuttal witnesses. After that, Judge Lewis will provide the jurors with instructions before they decide on a verdict, which must be rendered unanimously. On Wednesday, Keable and Cassotis discussed a possibility with Lewis, where if the jury cannot unanimously convict Thomas on first-degree assault, for allegedly “knowingly” starving the boy, she may be charged with second-degree assault, which implies the suspect “recklessly” starved the child.

The trial began at 10 a.m. Thursday and concluded at about 5:15 p.m. in one of the longest sessions in the case yet. Judge Lewis thanked the jury for being patient, stating, “It is hard work to be on a jury.”

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